Ejaria’s up and Sunder
Ovie Ejaria reckons what didn’t kill him made him stronger in his loan deal at doomed Sunderland.
Now he’s loving life on the European stage with new club Rangers.
The Liverpool midfielder endured six months of misery as darkness descended on the Stadium of Light in their descent to League One, experiencing only a single victory.
This se a s on the 20-year- old’s world has turned on its head, though, with nine unbeaten games in the Europa League to his name and, he hopes, another to come against Sparktak Moscow at Ibrox on Thursday.
He said: “When I look back at my Sunderland spell it was a good experience for me.
“It is nice to be in a different environment here at Rangers, in terms of actually winning games.
“The team struggling was tough and it wasn’t something I was used to. At youth level for Liverpool I was used to winning.
“So going to Sunderland was all new to me and I had to try to adapt. Mentally it was tough but I see it now as a good thing.
“It helped me be stronger mentally and it helped me prepare to come to such a big club like this.”
The England Under-21 midfielder has played more European games than domestic so far at Gers.
But he admitted: “That was a huge factor in me coming here, playing against different styles in different countries.
“I hadn’t sampled much European football before, only youth tournaments.
“I had been to games at Anf ield for European games but to actually play in it was something else.
“The atmosphere against Rapid Vienna at Ibrox was just incredible.”